MEN’S VOLLEYBALL HOSTS THOMPSON RIVERS; WOMEN HOST REGINA

VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFSSATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2011WEEKLY PREVIEW

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL HOSTS THOMPSON RIVERS; WOMEN HOST REGINA

LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western men’s and women’s volleyball teams will host their respective best-of-three matchups in the first round of the Canada West playoffs Feb. 17-19, with the men playing Thompson Rivers and the women taking on Regina.

And with both series it’s a chance for redemption for Trinity Western.

The men’s series pits third place TWU against sixth place TRU and provides a rematch of the first round of the 2009 playoffs when TWU played host to and lost in three games to the Kamloops based WolfPack.

Playing in the David E. Enarson Gymnasium, the Spartans lost the first game 3-2 (21-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-22, 15-10), won the second game 3-1 (25-14, 22-25, 25-22, 25-23) and lost the third game 3-2 (21-25, 25-20, 25-21, 21-25, 15-11).

But now, they get a chance to redeem themselves. Although, it won’t come easily.

The Spartans and WolfPack faced off in the second week of the season and split with both games going to five sets. Thompson Rivers won the first night 3-2 (19-25, 26-24, 23-25, 25-19, 15-13) with Kevin Tillie, their France born star, getting 23 of his team’s 65 kills. On the second night, the Spartans squeaked out a 3-2 (21-25, 26-24, 25-19, 24-26, 17-15) win but Tillie still managed to get 26 kills.

And if you ask anyone, it is indeed Tillie who drives the WolfPack’s ship. He averages 4.41 kills per set (2nd in CW) and 2.04 digs per set (10th in CW). After Tillie, Alex Davis has been a vital member of the WolfPack, as he averaged 1.36 blocks per set this year (2nd in CW) and 0.22 aces per set (7th in CW), as well as Joel Caschetto, who is hitting 31.3 per cent (9thd in CW).

As for the women’s series, the second place Spartans play the seventh place Regina Cougars, a team that beat them in the third place match at the Canada West Final Four last year and, in doing so, stopped TWU one win shy of earning a spot at nationals.

In that game, TWU lost 3-2 (25-20, 22-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-12) and many of the same players will be in Langley looking send the Spartans packing two years in a row.

When these two teams hooked up earlier this year for a mid-November series in Regina, the Spartans won both matches, but it wasn’t easy.

The Spartans won Friday night’s game 3-1 (25-16, 25-17, 23-25, 25-12) with Kara Jansen Van Doorn leading the team with 16 kills while for Regina Kaitlyn Hughes had a team-high 12 kills. Then on Saturday, the Spartans won 3-2 (25-18, 22-25, 25-17, 19-25, 15-10) but needed to go the distance and a 22-kill performance from Jansen Van Doorn to knock off the Cougars. On this night it was Meagan Onstad who led Regina with 18 kills while three other players had double digits in kills including 14 more from Hughes.

Onstad has been the Cougars offensive leader all year as she has averaged 2.98 kills per set (4th in CW) - and had a game-high 20 kills against TWU in last year's playoff win - while setter Tiffany Herman is the conference leader with 10.19 assists per set. Libero Rebecca Rink is seventh in Canada West with 3.14 digs per set.

GAME TIMES

THURSDAY – Women at 6:15 p.m. and Men at 8:00 p.m.FRIDAY – Women at 6:15 p.m. and Men at 8:00 p.m. *SATURDAY – Women at 5:00 p.m. and Men at 7:00 p.m.